French President Emmanuel Macron and Australia's new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spoke Thursday to "rebuild a relationship... (of) trust" after ruptured ties over a scrapped submarine deal, Mr Macron's office said on Thursday.
The two leaders spoke by telephone and agreed "to rebuild a bilateral relationship founded on trust and respect", a statement said, noting the breakdown in confidence under the last government in Canberra which halted a major deal to buy French submarines.
Mr Macron's office said the two sides would work together on pressing global issues including climate change and strategic challenges in the Indo-Pacific region.
"A roadmap will be prepared to structure this new bilateral agenda... to reinforce our resilience and contribute to peace and regional security," it said.
Ties between Paris and Canberra plummeted after former Australian prime minister Scott Morrison tore up a submarine deal with France's Naval Group last year and opted for US or British nuclear-powered alternatives as part of a landmark security agreement with Washington and London.
The switch caused fury in Paris, with Mr Macron accusing Mr Morrison of lying about the future of the contract worth around $90 billion.
Mr Morrison rejected Mr Macron's accusation, telling reporters, "No" and, later, "I don't agree with that".
Australia in September announced it was cancelling its 2016 contract to acquire conventional submarines from French company Naval group.
Instead, the government would look at the feasibility of acquiring technology for nuclear-powered vessels from the US and the UK under an AUKUS pact.
The announcement angered France, which responded by temporarily recalling its ambassadors from Australia and the US.
The accusation came as Mr Morrison made his climate pitch to the G20 ahead of the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow.
Mr Morrison told reporters in Rome he would "always stand up for Australia's interests" and maintained Australia has begun the process of repairing its relationship with France.
When asked to clarify whether in their discussions Mr Morrison had told the French president he was considering ending the contract, he said: "I was very clear that the conventional submarines were not going to be able to meet our strategic interests, and that we would need to make a decision in our national interest."
At the time, US President Joe Biden had conceded the handling of the deal was "clumsy" and that he was unaware France had not been given advanced notice of Australia's decision.
In April, Australian authorities said Canberra could pay up to $5.5 billion to France to end the deal.
